Not so clear on how to deal with this
by MISCrasyaboutfanfics
Summary: Peaches and Sideways have a 2nd kid. Just read it to find out more.
1. Chapter 1

Not so clear

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs. Transformers belong to Hasbro. Tai Witwicky's characters belong to her.

Author's note: So now for the story that was voted for in my poll. I don't know how long this will be but I do know that I'm going to have fun writing this.

Peaches hadn't known how it had happened but there she was, building the frame of a new Cybertronian with her sparkmate, Sideways. The 2 had thought this over for a while and had decided not only did they want their adopted daughter Abby to have a sister or brother but that they wanted to ensure the survival of the Cybertronian race as well as have someone else to love.

"I congratulate the both of you for thinking about this before doing it, something that humans could learn a thing or two about." Ratchet said.

"Well, I wanted to do it only if he agreed to it." Peaches replied as she pointed to the ex-Decepticon mech that she had bonded to.

Sideways started laughing a bit "Just think Peach; in another week, we have a bigger family."

"Yes, I know but still, I'm so worried. I was always the only child; how am I going to make sure that Abby gets along with her new sister or brother, much less one that is way different than she is? Waht will I do when it's confusing as to who is the 'little sister'?" the orange and red Pretender was panicking.

"Peaches, calm down. You can ask Tai both of those and see if she can help you." Ratchet answered. "Now you two better be doing everything right, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Peaches and Sideways both answered. They then went to get Abby from Tai so that they could spend time with her for that evening.

(3 hours earlier)

Peaches had just told everyone the good news and these were just some of the reactions.

"You can't be serious!"-Jolt

"Cool!"-Tai.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"-Arcee

"Okay, why do you think you can handle a 2nd kid"-Galloway.

Sideways grabbed the liason and held him up close to his faceplate. "Never insult Peaches' or my ability to do anything, you son of a glitch!" he snarled in a threatening tone of voice.

"Hey watch it, Sparrow, Techno and Abby are here!" Chromia pointed out.

The former Decepticon didn't hear the femme and was just about to toss the now shaking Theodore Galloway against the wall on the other side of the room when Optimus Prime walked in.

"Let him go Sideways, he is not worth it."

Sideways sighed and reluctantly placed Galloway back onto the floor. "He insulted my sparkmate and I." he muttered angrily. He then walked out.

(back to present)

Afterwards, Optimus had gotten everyone to settle down and get back to work while Peaches and Sideways built the frame of their new sparkling. Now the two sparkmates just had to wait for what was to happen. For right now, Sideways sat by himself on the beach. He had calmed down a lot but was still not completely settled down. It seemed as though the waves rolling gently towards the island were a mockery of what had happened earlier. "Can't have Abby imitating that, what was I thinking?" he said out loud. "Still, Peaches and I have been able to handle a lot, unlike that glitchhead.' The ex-Decepticon mech sighed.

Optimus Prime himself had seen Sideways sitting there. "I would have been tempted to do the same thing if Elita and I had been insulted."

Sideways looked up. "You, a Prime, tempted to throw someone who isn't an enemy against the wall? A long time ago, I would have said that's laughable but today, I'm just surprised." he said. "It's just that-I don't need any more doubts from anybody. I just want to prove that I've changed damn it! I don't want to be thought of as a coward anymore! Not everyone's seen that proof though."

"I know that I have. You and Peaches sitting in the rec room with Abigail while on break and watching TV, the way you are able to comfort Peaches, and of course, when Abby grabbed your finger and refused to let go." The Autobot leader was smiling. "You and Peaches were both very brave to start a relationship while both factions of our race were still at war and you were on different sides. You both were not afraid to admit that you were 'dating' as the humans call it and kept doing so even though Megatron and I both disapproved of it. Both of you also try to be the best example to the youngling you have now and will be for your next sparkling. You aren't a coward at all and you haven't blown the chance I gave you."

The ex-Decepticon felt a very weird feeling. Like his spark was touched and that everything would work out. "Well, I've got one more thing I want to ask."

"What is that?" Optimus Prime asked.

"Do you have any tips on how to deal with my femme for this whole week? She's going to be craving stuff, being emotional, that kind of thing."

Optimus started laughing. "Just be patient and be glad that she does not have to go through 'labor' like a human female does."

Sideways recharged that night with a smile on his faceplate. Next to him was his femme, on the other side of the room were his soon to be oldest daughter and the family dog. He had asked Peaches about why he was feeling weird in a good way and she had replied "Optimus Prime always makes you feel like that when you're somebody whose on his side. He always sees the good even in the worst situations. Yes, he's not perfect but he does come close."

Sideways wasn't sure what to expect but he did rest thinking of only happy thoughts, something he had never been able to do as a Decepticon. It felt so good to be able to do so.

Author's notes: Yeah, it's kind of a lame start but I hope I can make this better. If anyone has any suggestions to help me get this moving along, please let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 day 2

Disclaimer: Do not own Transformers, just my characters. Idea of Devastator being around belongs to Soundwave0107, and Tai, Sparrow and Techno belong to Tatyana Witwicky. I also don't own the song "I hope you dance".

Sideways was watching Abby the next day as Peaches had begun having weird cravings for chocolate, which was supplied by Tai Witwicky. The orange and red Pretender was smiling and laughing one moment, crying the next, and at one point had thrown a chair across the room at Skids and Mudflap.

"Sideways, what are you doing?" a voice sounded out.

The ex-Decepticon looked down to find almost 4 year old Annabelle Lennox staring up at him. "Nothing you need to know about."

"Don't be silly; you're watching Abby."

Sideways sighed in slight annoyance; if he had his way, Annabelle wouldn't be visiting the base. The last time she had, she had had to ask him and Peaches why Transformers didn't have to use the bathroom if they had to eat. It had been decided that they would send her to ask Ratchet since he would give a better explanation. Sure, he couldn't blame her since she was a youngling but still… "Are you going to help me with that?"

"Yes; Daddy said I had to stay out here since everyone else is in a meeting and Jazz and Tai took Sparrow and Techno off base for the day." She said proudly.

Abby was sitting and laughing as the waves rolled towards her, then went away. She then held up her arms, as if to say that she wanted to be picked up. Sideways smiled "All right you." he said as he picked her up. "Why don't we hear about what Annabelle thinks the clouds are shaped like?"

Annabelle then began naming the shapes she saw: a toaster, the Autobot insignia, a pie, a stroller and the Decepticon insigniam just to name a few. The ex-Decepticon smiled as he held his daughter; he hoped that the meeting was going well...

Sometime after that meeting, Peaches was alone and organizing her quarters, the bathrooms, and giving a bath to her dog Snowball. She then went outside, taking buckets of water and soap with her. She was going to give at least one componenet of a certain somebody a washdown.

The red excavator noticed the Pretender out there; Devastator of course had to ask Optimus Prime if he had said Peaches could wash him off.

_She is allowed to; you haven't had a good cleaning in a while. _Optimus replied. _Let her clean off all of your components if she wishes and be careful about what you say to her; she is expecting a sparkling after all and will be very moody until next Friday._

_Understood Master._ Devastator replied. He settled himself down and allowed the Pretender to start gently scrubbing. He had to admit despite her being "moody", she still seemed to be able to concentrate on her self-appointed approved by the Prime task as well as singing a song that she seemed to love.

"**I hope you still feel small as you stand beside the ocean, I hope whenever one door closes one more opens. Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.**" Peaches sang as she finally rinsed off the soap and went to get more soap and water.

Devastator immediately brought his cement truck component over, moving the excavator to another part of the island. He did not understand what that song was about until the orange and red femme told him that it was meant to be a metaphor for actually living life rather than just surviving by "sitting it out". The combiner was now relaxed and thinking about the Pretender, something he didn't do often since it was his job to serve the Prime. The Pretender was very suited to becoming a mother and ensuring the survival of the Cybertronian race as was Sideways. They both had wanted this and generally agreed on a lot, including that it was best to listen to Optimus Prime and not argue with him. They also were determined to make sure that the young human femme known as Abby felt accepted as the only human in a family of robots. Peaches had started singing more of her favorite songs and talking about how she wanted another femme in her family as she washed off every component until Devastator was finally cleaned.

_Thank you._ he said.

_You're welcome; your master will be pleased I'm sure._ the orange and red femme replied.

Optimus Prime had come out to see every component of Devastator driving back to the area where he and Peaches were. The Autobot leader smiled "That was a job well done Peaches; you go ahead and have some free time."

The Pretender ran off shouting "I've got to go use the washracks!".

_How are you going to be able to deal with her? _Devastator asked.

_There is one thing that I've always remembered and that you should know as well; any gender no matter what the species should not be stereotyped just because most mechs or femmes act a certain way, especially at this time. _the Autobot leader replied._ Leave her be and don't get into any arguments with her just because she will occasionally lash out at everyone, including me._

_Understood._ Devastator than went into recharge and Optimus Prime went back into the base as he heard Peaches scream "SOME AFTHOLE FILLED THE WASHRACKS' SPRAYERS WITH PAINT!".

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, you should know better than to mess with her when she is preparing for a very important event." he said to the two twins a few minutes later in his office. Peaches had gone to the medbay to get Jolt to help her get the paint off of herself.

"She wasn't even our target!" Sunstreaker protested.

"I do not care, you are still in trouble. Both of you are to clean out the sprayers under Prowl's supervision and refill them with cleaning substances ONLY! Is that clear?" Optimus asked.

Both of them nodded. then exited the room with Prowl. Then someone else came in.

"Sideways, do you need something?" Optimus asked.

"Yes; a place to hide. I can't find anyone to watch Abby so that Peaches can get me to, well, you get the idea." the ex-Decepticon replied, as he crawled under the desk.

"You get back here! You need a good cleaning too!" a certain Pretender shouted from in the hallway.

Peaches entered Optimus Prime's office and immediately asked him to please find someone to watch Abby while she dragged a very apologetic (but protesting) Sideways out from under the desk and handed the small infant to her leader.

As the two left, Optimus settled back into his chair, holding Abby in his hand and being careful not to drop her. He didn't have anything else he had to do today surprisingly enough. After all, how much trouble could it be to take care of a 3 month old human temporarily?

Author's note: I'm only somewhat sure of what I want to do next. I have up to where the sparkling is born planned out but I'm not sure of what I'll have happen after that. Also, when Transformers: Dark of the Moon comes out I'm going to have to somehow make this story fit with what happens in that movie if I don't finish it before then. Once again, suggestions are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 day 3

When Peaches was finally out of recharge the next day, she immediately volunteered to watch Annabelle. Everyone else was surprised but didn't say anything.

"Hey Peaches, is there really a song that doesn't end?" Annabelle asked.

"Yes, there is!" the orange and red femme screamed excitedly. "**This is the song that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because..."**

Soon both of them were singing it. And they did so for most of the day, much to everyone else's annoyance. To make things worse, Sparrow was singing with the human girl and the Pretender.

"Would all 3 of you stop that racket! I can't work with hearing that from you all the time!" Wheeljack called from his lab.

Then they finally stopped.

"I guess it just ended." Peaches laughed nervously, then went to her room saying "I'm playing with my Lamb Chop toy and nobody bother me!"

"And neither of you two start singing that again, is that clear?" Ironhide asked Annabelle and Sparrow.

"Yes sir." the two of them replied.

"And you stop her from acting stupid." Galloway was yelling at Sideways.

"She and I are having sparkling and I'm supposed to put up with how she acts for the next 4 days no matter what a fragged up glitch like you says!" the mech yelled back. Then he punched the liason in the chest, breaking his ribs.

"That was uncalled for!" Optimus Prime reprimanded Sideways. "Mr. Galloway, you go to the medbay and follow this advice; never provoke those who are or were Decepticons. Ratchet will tend to you. Sideways, go with Peaches, we will discuss this later."

"Yes sir." A very disappointed Sideways decided to disappear for the time being.

Later that day, Sideways walked into the room to find Peaches at the Transformer-sized computer console, watching videos of Lamb Chop, and holding the stuffed animal version of the character along with stuffed versions of Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.

"You know, I always wondered why two of them are named after food." the ex-Decepticon said.

"What? I would never eat Lamb Chop or Hush Puppy, even if I was hungry enough to!" Peaches was now outraged.

"Hey, I'm just asking-" Sideways then got cut off.

"You're asking for trouble!" The orange and red femme then started tickling her sparkmate. Sideways found himself unable to stop laughing until the two of them went to get energon and Peaches had temporarily calmed down. This was going to be a long 4 days.

Later that night, after having a very long talk with Optimus, Sideways had settled down next to his orange and red sparkmate and was trying his best not to think of what would happen tomorrow. What other crazy things could Peaches do?

Author's note: Yeah, not sure what I was thinking when I typed this chapter...don't ask.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 day 6 and the big event

The next 3 days went faster than Peaches could count to 1,000. Sideways had been lectured by Ratchet about how fragile humans were, had paid Galloway's medical expenses and had helped her build a crib for their new sparkling. Right now the orange and red femme was looking through the toys that she had for one to give to the soon-to-be youngest kid. Tomorrow was the day that the sparkling was going to come online.

"Well, it is a femme thank goodness." Peaches said, laughing nervously.

"So, what do you propose we name her?" Sideways asked the Pretender who he could never get pissed off with no matter how crazy she had been acting the last few days.

"Crystal. I always wanted to name somebody after a jewel." She said smiling. She wasn't acting as crazy anymore now that there was only a few hours left before she and her sparkmate had to go into the medical bay to see their sparkling come online. She was however, being a bit childish.

"Sounds like a good name to me; oh, where's Abby?" the ex-Decepticon asked.

"Tai and Optimus have got her…I hope she isn't giving them too much trouble." Peaches answered…

Meanwhile, Abby had been (figuratively) screaming her head off. She had been fed, she had a clean diaper on, and she had played with her toys and had gotten tired of them. Now Techno was screaming because his playmate was.

"I believe if we separate them it will be easier to calm them both down." Optimus Prime said.

"Good idea." Tai immediately took Techno out of the rec room and Prime sat down on the sofa, holding Abby in one hand.

"Calm down little one. Your parents will come back for you in 10 minutes." He said.

The 3 month old girl settled down just a little bit, then a lot when the Autobot leader turned on the radio to play some soothing music to put her to sleep. The song that was playing was Nickelback's "If everyone cared".

Optimus Prime was smiling when the song finished and Abby was now resting. He turned off the radio, then 7 minutes later, Sideways and Peaches came into the room to take their adopted daughter back to their room to rest.

"Was she a lot of trouble?" Peaches asked.

"She most certainly was not a lot of trouble." Optimus stated.

"Thanks for watching her for us." Sideways said as he took Abby and laid her in his left hand.

"You are very welcome."

The two sparkmates took their soon to be oldest child and laid her down in their room and then decided to get some energon for themselves. Optimus Prime couldn't help but smile. Peaches had come such a long way since almost a year ago when she had discovered that she was indeed a Cybertronian and not a human like she had thought she was her whole life. Sure, she would have to take some "maternity leave" for a few days before being allowed back on the battlefield but that wasn't a big deal. There could be things that were a lot worse…

"So, that femme is 'expecting' as the humans would say." Starscream muttered to himself. "Pity I can't just go after her..."

"What was that Starscream?" Megatron yelled.

"Nothing, nothing at all!" the 2nd in command screamed.

The Decepticon leader grabbed Screamer and held him against the wall. "You tell me what is going on right now!"

"Soundwave has picked up some interesting intel. Sideways and his ridiculous sparkmate are haivng their own sparkling!" Starscream was blabbing and began telling all about it.

5 minutes later when he was done, Megatron let an evil smile cross his faceplates. "Only 3 of the soon to be 4 youngest residents of NEST base will be useful then. All of you listen up!"

What Megatron planned was not too complicated but not too simple. Giving Starscream something to do to keep busy was part of it...and no Autobot or human would be able to stop what was going to happen in a few days...

On NEST base, Peaches and Sideways were recharging when Ratchet got them up at midnight.

"She's coming now?" the 2nd of them asked, as he grabbed Abby.

"I will put her in Tai's room and tell them what's going on!" Ratchet took the 3 month old human, being careful not to wake her and sent the Pretender and the ex-Decepticon to the medbay.

Soon, Peaches and Sideways had walked in and stood there watching as the optics on their sparkling lit up for the first time.

"Hey, they're purple!" Peaches whispered.

"That's what happens when you mix red and blue." the ex-Decepticon said smiling. "She's got your orange all over her but she's got some dark bluish color on her hands and feet."

"Well, she is now Crystal, our very own and Abby's new sister." the Pretender said as she picked up the femme sparkling and sat down in a chair. Sideways sat in the other chair.

Outside the door, Ratchet was smiling. He had told Tai not to tell anyone else until morning came after giving her Abby to watch for the rest of the early morning hours. Everyone else's reactions would be interesting to see.

Author's note: Yeah, I might have rushed a little bit but I wanted to get this done. To Caristona, I know I said I wanted to post this on Saturday or Sunday but I wanted to get it done early. Everyone, if you have any suggestions please let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own the Transformers characters or Tai, Sparrow and Techno. I only own Peaches, Abby, Snowball and Crystal.

Later that morning at about 9:00 a.m. after having gotten some more sleep with her new sparkling and sparkmate, Peaches awoke to find Tai bringing Abby back.

"It looks like someone else needs to see the new family member." Sideways said to the technorganic as he took his oldest daughter back from her and put her gently into his left hand. He then showed her Crystal.

"Thanks Tai for putting up with me when I was temporarily acting as crazy as you can be sometimes." Peaches said.

"No sweat. Ratchet and I are going off to tell everyone else." Tai then exited the medbay and ran off to spread the good news…

All of the Autobots were glad to hear that everything had gone well last night, as well as Lennox and Epps.

"That's good to hear that all of them are doing so well." Arcee said.

"Indeed it is; I believe Peaches wanted me to be her next visitor." Optimus Prime stated.

"Yes, she did if you're not too busy." Jolt replied.

Optimus then immediately went to the medical bay and saw a sight that gave him a reason to put a smile on his faceplates. In Sideways' left hand was Abby, who was trying to reach over and touch the orange sparkling known as Crystal, who was sitting in Peaches arms and looking around.

"Well, good morning Optimus sir." The orange and red Pretender said. "I didn't actually think that you'd have the time to visit me."

"The meeting that I have to do over Skype with the President is not until this afternoon." The Autobot leader explained.

"Oh, that's good." Peaches replied. "Would you like to hold her? Sideways already has."

Optimus didn't say a word as he carefully picked up the orange and blue sparkling with purple optics. Crystal reminded him of Tai when she was just a small sparkling...the Autobot leader let a smile creep onto his faceplate as he thought of that. Also a happy time for anyone on NEST base was a wonderful treat during the war against the Decepticons that did not seem to end; of course, that's what he forgot to mention.

"Peaches, Sideways, both of you keep an optic on your younglings. If the Decepticons get knowledge of them, there is no telling what will happen." Optimus Prime ordered in a serious tone. "Don't overdo it though; I learned that the hard way." He barely kept himself from shuddering at the memory of having been offline for at least 2 Earth days before being brought back and the last thing that had happend was Tai not talking to him due to his being overprotective. He was still like that sometimes of course but then again, anyone who knew Prime knew that if you messed with his daughter, you had to deal with him to.

"We will Optimus." Sideways replied as he handed Abby to Peaches and took Crystal from the last of the Primes.

"I'm surprised she was just so calmed and didn't even cry when you took her." Peaches stated, very confused.

"That's the effect Optimus Prime has on those who are his allies." the ex-Decepticon replied, as he nudged his sparkmate.

"Don't do that! You almost made me drop Abby!" the Pretender almost screamed. She then turned to her leader and smiled. "Everything will be fine. I'll make sure that they are safe, i promise."

Optimus Prime then took his leave and left the small "family" to have some more time alone before Jolt's visit which was going to be at lunchtime. If anything happened to his daughter, his two grandchildren or Peaches' offspring, he would never forgive himself. The island was secure though and all of the Autobots knew what to do in case of a surprise attack or if an intruder snuck in so all would be fine. _Hopefully_ Optimus thought to himself, as he went to start his meeting with the President.

(Somewhere in space)

Starscream didn't know why he had to be the one to do this task. Kidnapping sparklings would be a piece of oilcake. If he could do something more complicated and prove that he could be leader. "Maybe I will." he thought to himself as he started the long flight to Earth. He had been ordered to go slow to conserve fuel as well as to keep the Autobots from detecting him. The "flying Dorito", as he had been nicknamed, had plenty of time to think about what HE could do with the sparklings that he was going to obtain very soon.

Author's note: Yeah, it's a bit short but I tried to have more description and to not over do it with the dialogue and well, I didn't feel like writing much. XD.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A few days later, Peaches was out of the medbay as was Crystal, and the two were with Abby on the beach while Sideways was busy keeping an eye on those who were in the brig. "Figures he had to do the job of guarding the Corvette Twins." The orange and red femme thought, laughing a little bit at the idea of him being able to handle it.

Abby was liying on her small blanket and kept trying to sit up while her new sister was on a bigger blanket, already sitting and putting her fingers in the sand.

"Oh, no you don't, Crystal. Ratchet won't like that." Peaches said as she moved the small fingers away. "If you get sand in your systems, he'll have to clean it out."

Crystal of course didn't understand; she just waved her hands around and started laughing as she watched the waves crash into the shore.

Peaches sighed. They were so innocent and cute. Sure, they couldn't stay that way but she could dream. It was just ironic that yesterday and today had been anniversaries of terrible tragedies…how come April was always like that and yet the "May flowers" that came were just plain beautiful?

"Hey Peach are you all right?" someone asked.

The Pretender turned to find Sideways. "Not really." She admitted. "Have you ever heard of school shootings or other famous tragedies that have taken place on Earth?"

"No." Sideways admitted to his sparkmate as he sat down next to her in the sand and picked up Abby. "What about them?"

"Well, a lot of violent things seem to happen in April, mainly by coincidence." Peaches explained as she looked away. "I was 7 years old when the Columbine High School massacre took place; I was watching the news with my human parents and the idea that anyone would sneak a weapon into a school and kill someone frightened me. Years later the Virginia Tech massacre took place 4 days before that anniversary; I was 13 and on the school bus headed home when the report came on the radio. My parents never told me about the Oklahoma City bombing because they thought I shouldn't hear about it until years later."

Sideways had looked up both of these events, shocked and outraged. "Why would anyone do those kinds of things?"

"Only they would know; I always hoped that those two kids at Columbine would rot in hell for what they did until I found out that they were suffering from depression and some other things." The orange and red Pretender was letting anger overtake her. "It's just senseless, comepletely senseless! I just can't stand the idea of Abby and Crystal having to learn about that."

"You can't sugarcoat everything forever; yes, these two things would give me an excuse to destroy humanity had I still been a Decepticon." The ex-Decepticon mech pointed out.

"Well, were there any laws on Cybertron that dealt with something similar?" Peaches had to wonder.

"Yes and it was pretty simple; sparklings and others who weren't considered adults were never allowed access to weapons period unless someone was training them how to use them safely and then when a mech or a femme is about 18 in human years, then they may actually own one but only use it for defensive reasons such as war." Sideways was relieved to get it out of there. "Nothing like those events on Earth ever happened and if it did, it was a very rare thing; the punishment for disobedience was that whoever supplied the sparkling a weapon was not allowed to sell any other weapons for at least a whole year. It wasn't a tough punishment because everybody knew that when you're in a business, you've got to keep it running and it's shameful if anyone who ran that business was found to be breaking any laws."

Peaches asked him to please watch Abby and Crystal for a while becasue she needed time alone. She then got up from where she was sitting in the sand and started walking into the base...

Later that day, Sideways had put his two daughters down for a nap and made sure that the door was locked and that the baby monitor was on so that he could be sure that they were safe. He then went to the part of the island that was grassy; it wasn't a very large area but it would do. He then smiled as he looked at a flower garden that was being tended to by some of the civilian employees of NEST base. There were roses, daffodils, lillies, tulips and many other different types of flowers. The flower garden existed for the sole purposes of 1) giving the soldiers flowers to put in a bouqet and send to their loved ones for Valentine's Day or for anniversaries and 2) to give several people something to do if gardening happened to be their hobby.

The dark blue-ish mech started thinking; April showers bring May flowers...he had it! "Is there any chance you guys can spare a few of those?"

"I don't know; I really don't know." one woman mutterred as she turend to look at the ex-Decepticon. She had black hair, one blue eye, one brown eye and was wearing dirt stained clothes and gloves. "Sideways, is it? What do you need them for?"

"Peaches; I wanted to give her a special bouquet." he explained. "I dont' know if you'd understand Ms.-what's yoru name?"

"Just call me Ashley." she replied. "I think I can help you with that. How many do you need?"

"216." Sideways explained it all in a whisper and Ashley understood.

"All right; let's see what I can find here." she said, as she led him to another part of the garden...

When he had 213 of those flowers, Ashley explained that she didn't have anymore to spare. Sideways simply picked 3 dandelions and added them to his bouquet.

"Are you sure you want weeds mixed in?" she asked.t

"Weeds or no weeds, I think this is fine." he answered. "Thank you for your help." Sideways then went back into the main hangar of the NEST base as Ashley went to tend the vegetable gardens.

The ex-Decepticon found Peaches sititng down, staring at the TV but not paying attention to what was on. He immediately started writing on a piece of paper that he had found and then when finished he said "Peaches, I've got something for you."

The Pretender looked up, as did every other Autobot and human in the room. They were wondering what this was all about. Sideways immediately handed the bouquet of red, blue, yellow, orange, purple and pink flowers of various types to Peaches and told her to read the note.

'"We are plants in this big field of planet Earth, all of us as different as these flowers I wanted to give to you. Dandelions look good but are not really 'good'. You can choose which one you want to be but sometimes we need help to find out who we are. 3 didn't get the help they needed and had an excuse for what they did; another dandelion was picked and when found was tossed away when it had no reason to be grown in the first place. 213 flowers, all very beautiful and no longer growing on this planet because of these 4 are in a new garden with no weeds or pests, and plenty of care from a new gardener. April was and still is a bad month for many with those past showers of tragedy but the flowers who survived to this day and others who know who they are and that they wish to do good in this world are flowers of hope, growing when May starts. They come to know that when their time comes, they will live in that garden with all those whose time came to be replanted there."' she read out loud. '"for alll those who died at Oklahoma City, Columbine High School, and Virginia Tech"".

The red and orange femme started sobbing as she looked at the imperfect but beautiful boquet. "I don't know how to thank you enough for making me feel better."

Sideways hugged Peaches, as she continued to cry. Others in the room were shedding their own tears, while the Autobots bowed their heads silently.

Optimus Prime came up to the two sparkmates. "That was a very wonderful tribute to those victims."

"Optimus, I just wonder if those 3 guys had gotten more help that they obviously needed, would they have changed their minds and spared so many so much pain?" the Pretender had to ask. "Forget the guy who caused Oklahoma residents tragedy; he was mentally stable."

"I don't have an answer to that question although I wish I did." Optimus answered. "All I know is that the last of those 4 did face justice as he should have and one can only guess what has happened to him in the next life."

2 cries were heard on the baby monitor and Sideways immediately ran to his and Peaches' quarters and grabbed Abby and Crystal and brought them back to the room. The human infant and the Cybertronian sparkling were soon calmed down.

"And here, Peaches have our own 'flowers' so to speak. We want them to grow to be beautiful inside and out, and independant." the ex-Con stated as he snugged his two daughters close to his spark.

"They know that." Peaches pointed out. "One day I will be able to explain this to them but i don't know if they'd understand the plant metaphor."

The Autobot leader stood up and said. "Let all of the younglings on this base, no matter the species, be a beacon of hope in these dark times and to think that they and others are beautiful. I myself hope that they will not be afraid to ask for help no matter what kind of help they need, and to think about consequences of their actions."

Everybody returned to conversations, some related to what had just happened, others being about something entirely different. Peaches and Sideways sat on the Autobot sized sofa and put Abby and Crystal on their laps. They had a promise to keep, a lot to hope form, and a lot to dream about. They wanted to keep following their dreams and achieving them for those who no longer could.

Author's note: This mostly started writing itself; basically, I read an article on CNN and how it's a big coincidence that a lot of terrible stuff has happened in April and then i thought of writing about Peaches remembering those tragic anniversaries mentioned here and the "April showers bring May flowers" phrase and that's how it got off the ground. I'll try to write something humorous later since this and my last one shot are a bit too serious for my liking, although not very "dark"-sort of. R.I.P. to all of those who are no longer here with us.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The cutest things in the world were the descriptions used by Peaches and Sideways to describe both of their daughters. Today, Abby looked even cuter, wearing a yellow dress with pink and blue Easter eggs all over it; Crystal had found a headband with a pair of bunny ears stuck to it and had put it on. Although they could not have candy until they were older, they were still happy. Peaches was too; she only celebrated the secular part of Easter, not the religious part, but those humans on the base who were Christian didn't seem to mind.

Now they were outside, watching Annabelle and Sparrow look for the Easter eggs that were hidden everywhere. When they had found all of them, Sideways smiled and said "Great job both of you. Hey, where's Crystal?"

Peaches looked to see the orange and blue sparkling crawling on the ground, holding a blue plastic egg in one hand. "Looks like you two missed one." the Pretender said, starting to laugh at what was happening.

Sideways immediately took the blue egg out of Crystal's hand gently and gave it to Annabelle. The orange sparkling started screaming loudly at everyone.

"Look, you're too little for this. And you can't eat humans' candy but you can have your bottle." the ex-Decepticon quickly put said bottle of energon into his daughter's hands and she calmed down.

Peaches sighed with relief. "I'm just glad she can crawl but at the same time worried about what she'll get into." she admitted.

"I wouldn't worry too much Peaches; as long as someone is watching her, she'll be fine." Jolt said as he walked out to see what was going on.

Snowball, Peaches' and Sideways' collie, then ran out and started barking as she went to sniff the new member of the family. Crystal dropped her bottle in surprise and started screaming again.

"Snowball, get!" Peaches shouted. She sighed and picked up Crystal and the bottle, then Sideways picked up Abby. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

Later that day, the small unusual family was sitting and watching "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" by themselves in the rec room.

"You know, today wasn't so bad." Sideways saiid smiling. "You got tons of Cadbury eggs to eat and 2 giant chocolate bunnies from Epps and Lennox, as well as tons of other types of candy."

"I know; Ratchet wasn't too happy about that" Peaches was laughing at how the medic had reacted to her Easter basketful of chocolate, jelly beans, and Marshmallow Peeps. "but he did let me keep it, as long I didn't eat a lot of it today."

"Well, I am personally glad that you won't have to get any more candy for 6 months." Ratchet stated as he walked in to the room. "Both of your little ones have checkups tomorrow as do you two; dont' forget that."

"We won't." both sparkmates said in unison.

What is her reaction going to be to this anyways, the orange and red Pretender sighed. "Let's just hope tomorrow goes as well as today did."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Today couldn't have come sooner. It wasn't that Peaches hated Ratchet; she just hadn't had to go to the doctor very often while living as a human and she really didn't like having to take time out to get a physical examination done. Also, Abby hated it and would scream unless her mommy or daddy was with her.

Sideways on the other hand wouldn't mind this so much. He had had more than enough bad experiences with Scalpel as a Decepticon. He knew even before meeting Peaches and falling for her that the Autobots were more evasive when it came to medical procedures, only doing invasive treatments if there was no other choice. He was carrying Crystal and Peaches was carrying Abby to the medbay in order to get the whole thing over with.

"You're here 5 minutes early; I'm very surprised at that." Ratchet said. "You first Crystal; you're the youngest."

Crystal screamed as Sideways laid her on the examination table and Abby started screaming too. Both the ex-Decepticon and the Autobot Pretender calmed both girls down within 3 minutes though and Ratchet was able to scan the orange and blue sparkling.

"She is perfectly 100% normal." He announced.

Peaches was smiling as she took Crystal then laid Abby down carefully. When it was determined that the 3 month old human infant was also in good health, Peaches immediately took the 2 girls out so that Sideways could get his checkup done. Then it was finally her turn; Peaches handed the girls to her sparkmate then walked back in.

"Finally." She said as she walked in and laid down.

"Don't you worry Peaches; this won't take too long." Ratchet replied, as he scanned the Autobot Pretender and checked her over. When he had determined that Peaches was healthy, the latter immediately thanked him for everything he did for the Autobots, got up and ran out to join her family.

Ratchet couldn't help but feel proud of Peaches as Optimus had been; the orange and red femme was always trying her best to spend time with her new family, take care of them, and come home online after every mission. Sure, she was still struggling with moderation of human junk food, such as soda and chips, but that was not a serious issue, although Prowl had to make a rule that no one else was allowed to give Peaches Pepsi products...

The Pretender and ex-Decetpicon were now outside, sitting on the beach and watching their two girls playing. When the former saw Devastator, she immediately grabbed both girls and put them out of his way so that his cement truck coponent could drive past them. What happened next was a surprise; Devastator stopped to take a look at Crystal, who was nervously crawling towards him.

"No you don't Crystal; he could hurt you!" Peaches panicked.

"He won't even if he can; even he knows not to hurt sparklings." Sideways reminded his worried sparkmate.

_Cute isn't she?_ Peaches asked.

_Yes, she is._ Devastator hated to call anything "cute" but that was the only word that he could use to describe the orange and blue sparkling. He had seen Prime holding her a few hours after she had come online and how pleased he had been wtih the Pretender and her sparkmate. Crystal was scared of him, her mother's dog, and Skids and Mudflap but that was understandable due to her age and not knowing that all 3 could be harmless. The cement truck drove itself away, the now curious sparkling following close behind.

"Oh no you don't; he's busy." Sideways said as he picked up Crystal, who stared longingly after Devastator.

Snowball came up to them and started licking the small sparkling when the latter was put back on the ground. Crystal thought this was funny and a bit tickly, and started laughing. Abby was clapping her hands as she watched her sister being lickedd, and Peaches herself was giggling.

Sideways smiled; there was nothing that could go wrong, right?

Later that night, as Abby slept curled up in her favorite sheet and Crystal snuggled with her favorite stuffed animal (which was of Hush Puppy), Starscream arrived. He had masked his signal to avoid detection and was ready to do his job. Thsi time though he had different orders; to only take Crystal and Sparrow since Techno wouldn't survive the trip to space.

"Megatron isn't as stupid as I thought." Starscream muttered. "Now to get on with it; those 2 will be perfect additions to the Decepticon ranks/ They're so gullible and too young to know the difference between both factions..."

Unfortunately, he had said the last part out loud and a patrolling Devastator heard this and went to investigate. The Battle for the Sparklings was about to begin...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Peaches immediate grabbed Abby and Crystal and rushed them to the bunker that had been built for them for if anyone actually attacked Diego Garcia. She was worried and irritated that the Decepticons were being the jerks that they usually were.

"I detected Starscream coming into here; get the girls safe!" Sideways warned his sparkmate as she got in and locked the door. He then heard an unexpected voice and turned around to see who it was.

"Well, look who it is. Never thought I'd see you alive and with the Autobots." Starscream had come up to his former teammate and was prepared to fight him.

"True but Megatron never did anything about your traitorous tendencies." Sideways said as he whipped out his blade and glared at the so called "flying Dorito" although now was not the time to use that particular insult . "I will fight you here. I will not let you get to my sparkmate or my sparklings."

"How touching." the Decepticon second-in-command said sarcastically, drawing his own blade and lunging forward. Sideways ducked and parried the blow with a forceful upward slash. "Ah, we'll see who gets the sparklings," the con taunted.

Peaches was sitting in the bunker with Jolt who had come to keep her and her daughters company. Neither one of the two friends said a word; they just hoped that everything would be all right.

Unfortunately, that was not the case; their hopes were shattered as a huge winged form crashed through the wall. Peaches and Jolt ducked protectively over the sparklings as concrete and metal rained down on and around them. A cruel snicker caught their attention, and they looked up. Starscream was leering down at them through the dust in the air and he wasn't alone.

Shockwave had arrived on Earth, knowing that Starscream would mess everything up; he was there to ensure that the mission was completed. The bulky Con had Sparrow tightly bound in energy cords and strapped to his chest to more easily carry the little bot. Sparrow was howling in terror.

"What the hell?" Peaches screamed.

"I do not believe in anything that human religions deal with." he replied.

"If you're here for the sparkling, forget it!" Jolt shouted, as he took out his whips.

'Don't; you'll hurt Sparrow!" the Pretender panicked.

Both the blue Autobot and the gray Decepticon stared at each other for a few seconds while Peaches snatched Abby and Crystal and ran out of the room. She had just gotten a message from Optimus Prime to prepare to evacuate herself and her two children from NEST base.

Peaches hurried towards the airstrip, Jazz was waiting there, and they would take a plane to a safe-house. The sounds of fighting mechs diminished; Peaches was glad for that, but then a roar swept towards her. Weapons' fired exploded around her, making her recoil swiftly.

"Starscream, you jerk!" she screamed, as she struggled to keep Abby and Crystal from falling. as she stumbled backwards and hit a wall.

"Pity you're worthless as were your caretakers." Starscream crooned, "Perhaps she will be different." Starscream snatched Crystal from Peaches' arms. The sparkling started screaming as he flew off with her, Shockwave following close behind.

"Damn you..." Peaches said angrily, as Abby began crying...

Later at 4:00 a.m. Peaches woke up in the medical bay, and found Abby gone as well as Sideways. She felt horrible as what she remembered came rushing back to her; trying to hide, trying to protect her kids and failing at saving her second child. Peaches had a headache that she would describe as a thousand times more painful than any migraine the humans would get. She had to ask Ratchet what happened.

"Abby is safe with Tai and Jazz as is Techno." Ratchet explained. "Optimus Prime and Sideways had to go alone in order to follow those 2 imbeciles."

"Where's Jolt?" the orange and red femme asked.

"He is over here, in much worse condition than you were when Prime brought you over here. I'm afraid he might not have much of a chance of survival and there is no telling what the Decetpicons will do to Sparrow and Crystal." the medic answered, letting a bit of sadness overcome him.

"I failed Optimus...I promised to always watch them..." she muttered as she got up and ran over to Jolt's side. "I'm sorry my friend; it's my fault. I shouldn't have had a 2nd sparkling..."

Peaches was sobbing and refusing to leave the side of her friend who was like a brother. She wouldn't look up when Ratchet tried to get her attention again. She wanted to stay where she was and not move and said "I'm worthless as an Autobot." out loud.

In a field somewhere in rural Virginia, Optimus Prime and Sideways arrived to face Shockwave and Starscream, who had left both sparklings tied up together near a walnut tree that came up to half way up Optimus Prime's midsection.

"I can't believe this; it's my fault!" Sideways screamed out loud, not caring who heard him or if any civilian humans in the area would come to investigate the sound.

"It most certainly is not; Peaches is blaming herself as well according to the most recent message from Ratchet but it is not so." the Autobot leader explained. "I would rather die than let any sparklings be tortured and forced into slavery by the enemy."

"You attacked my family, injured my sparkmate and a friend of hers, and kidnapped hers and my child and the said child of another friend of hers. You will pay for this Starscream..."the ex-Decepticon vowed as he watched Shockwave and Starscream land close to the oak tree where the currently tied up and screaming sparklings were sitting next to. That was about 25 feet from where he was currently standing. He brought out his blades again, and braced himself, readying himself physically as well as mentally for a battle. He was prepared to fight alongside the last Prime.

Author's note: Many thanks to Cairistona for proofreading and making suggestions for details that needed to be added.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Back at NEST base, repair work was being done both on the base and on the Cybertronians who had been injured. With Jolt out of it, Ratchet had to do all the work by himself. The medic had finally gotten word that Optimus and Sideways had rescued the two sparklings; that was the best news that he had heard all day.

Unfortunately, Jolt hadn't seemed to be getting any better; he was still unconscious with Peaches lying on him, still letting a few tears flow freely as she begged him to let her know that he was okay. She had been like that for hours and Ratchet knew better than to get her more upset. He left the two alone and went to check on some of the human soldiers, taking in the info he had gotten about what had happened in the U.S. state of Virginia…

Sideways battled Starscream, determined not to lose to the Decepticon 2nd in command if he could help it at all. He had sliced his former teammate with his blades but then decided that hand in hand was the better way to go.

"Pity you're going easy on me." Starscream said.

"I am NOT going easy on you!" a very angry Sideways replied. "I'm going to rip your spark out now that I've slice you up a bit!"

Although that was not quite what had happened, the "flying Dorito" as the Decepticon was nicknamed was knocked out by a blow to the head when his ex-teammate jumped onto his head. Sideways got up and immediately ran to where Sparrow and Crystal were.

The 2 sparklings were overjoyed; of course, Sideways had energon leaking out of the two gashes given to him by Screamer but the two did not understand what was going on. The ex-Con carefully sliced the ropes that bound both sparklings together, transformed into vehicle mode and put both sparklings into the front seat. He mustered up whatever energy he had left to make it back to the plane that had brought himself and Optimus Prime to the area.

"We will finish this another time." Shockwave stated as he took the wounded Starscream and flew off into the night.

Optimus then went to where Sideways was, just a few feet away from the plane and in stasis lock in vehicle mode. He gently gave him a push up the ramp as the human crew members cleaned up the energon (as they had learned how to from Ratchet). The Autobot leader transformed into vehicle mode and informed Ratchet of the situation as he himself boarded the plane and kept an eye on the sparklings and their rescuer.

"Grandpa okay!" Sparrow said excitedly.

"Yes I am, little one." He replied. "Thank the AllSpark that you and Crystal are okay as well."

The Battle of the Sparklings was finally over.

When the plane returned, Ratchet immediately set to work on Sideways and wasted no time. He also quickly looked over both sparklings and determined that they were uninjured just a bit emotionally shaken from the whole ordeal.

Optimus immediately gave Sparrow back to Tai and took Abby and Crystal to his room for the night. It was the only thing he felt could be done; with Sideways out from the fight and Peaches an emotional mess, it was best that both the human infant and her younger though bigger Cybertronian sister did not have to see that. He sat on his berth with both of them and stared; both girls were asleep, although Crystal was not sleeping peacefully.

"Optimus, I'm sorry to disturb you but Sideways' friend Ashley wishes to speak with you." Ironhide said.

"Very well; she may do so."

The brunette human girl who was just a civilian worker in the eyes of the other humans that were part of NEST walked into the room. "Optimus, I can watch Abby, put her down to sleep in her room and stay with her until Peaches is able to take her, if you would like me to save you some trouble please."

"Of course you may, friend." Optimus Prime replied as he carefully passed Abby to the human woman.

"Thank you, it's my pleasure." Ashley replied.

"I will bring Crystal in once she has been recharging for a while." The Autobot leader explained. "Hopefully, Jolt will be all right for Peaches' sake if not his own. They have been almost like a brother and sister since Peaches first arrived here and for her to lose him would upset her more than the loss of her parents."

"I know how that's how I'd feel if anything happened to my sister Tanya." Ashley sighed as she walked out. "Too bad I can't tell her about you guys; she's always wanted to meet aliens."

As soon as both humans were gone from the room, Crystal looked up at Optimus with a scared look on her face.

"Do not worry little one; you are not tied up anymore and I will see to it that you do not have to go through that again." Optimus Prime assured her.

Once Crystal began settling down, it calmed down the last Prime a bit but still, Jolt and Sideways were out of it and Peaches needed the reassurance that both of them would be all right. Unknown to him that was coming to the Pretender…

Author's note: Yeah, I decided to do this early and yes I wanted to keep everyone in suspense regarding Peaches' sparkmate and friend. Next chapter will be coming ASAP.


	11. Chapter 11

The end for now

Jolt came out of recharge to find Peaches sitting beside the berth he was on. "Hey Peach, I'm all right."

Peaches burst into tears of happiness as she hugged her friend. "I was so worried! By the way, it's 4:00 p.m. here, just so you know."

The Pretender turned to see the familiar alternate mode of Sideways being worked on by Ratchet.

"Don't worry, he'll be all right too." The medic said.

"Oh thank the AllSpark!" Peaches replied, as she was able to calm down. "I'm going to go take care of Abby and Crystal by myself for a while; I'll visit them tomorrow."

As she walked out the medbay towards her room, her headache now gone, the orange and red femme sighed and wondered what would have happened had Crystal and Sparrow not been saved? What if Sideways had been caught and executed for being a traitor to the Decepticons?…she shuddered at the thoughts.

"Hello Peaches." A familiar voice said.

Peaches turned around. "Hello Optimus." She replied nervously. "Thanks for what you did."

"You are very welcome." Optimus Prime replied. "Ashley is currently keeping an eye on Abigail and Crystal; they should be waking up from their 'naps' as humans call them very soon."

"Great." Peaches looked down at her feet sadly.

"What is the matter?" the Autobot leader asked.

"I just don't feel like a good Autobot anymore; I couldn't keep those two from getting captured to begin with and I was doing everything I could-"

"Sometimes there is not a lot you can do and I do not blame you for what happened." Optimus said as he put a hand on the Pretender's shoulder. "Ratchet has informed me that both Sideways and Jolt will be out of the medbay next week and you do not need to feel guilt over their injuries."

Peaches smiled a little bit, then she heard the familiar barking of Snowball the collie. She then picked up the small dog as the latter ran towards her. "You got out again didn't you?" the Pretender asked. "Come on, time for some food for you." She then turned to Optimus. "Thanks for talking to me; you do so much for everybody on this team and I don't know how you handle the stress but you do a great job."

Optimus Prime began laughing at that. "You're welcome my friend. The worst is over for right now."

Peaches immediately put Snowball back down and the two went off to their quarters to take over watching the human infant and Cybertronian sparkling….

A week later, the first Monday of May, Jolt and Sideways walked out of the medical bay and Peaches hugged them both when they came into the rec room. Then Abby started waving at them while Crystal crawled over to Jolt and pulled on him.

"You want me to hold you." Jolt smiled as he said this and picked up his best friend's second child. "All right, I can do that. Peaches, if you'll give us a minute please, Sideways and I need to talk."

Peaches immediately took Abby to where the latter's toys were while Sideways said "Listen, I just have to ask if anything happens to me, will you take care of Peaches and the girls?"

"Of course I will, why do you ask?" Jolt replied.

"If I'm caught by Megatron and executed for treachery, I need to know that they will be safe and that someone will be there to support them; Peaches is strong mentally and physically no doubt about that but it's hard to take care of children on one's own, especially since one of them is a human and not physically like us." The ex-Decepticon said. "Just keep a watch over them if that happens, please? You're one of Peaches' closest friends and she definitely will need someone like you."

"I promise that I will take care of your sparkmate and sparklings should anything happen to you." The blue Autobot said as he gave the ex-villain a handshake.

Sideways took Crystal, who was reaching for him, and went outside; once again, Peaches and Abby were on the beach, playing on a blanket and waiting for him to join them. He did so and put Crystal down. The latter started crawling toward the waves but went back just as one started coming towards her.

"Don't go into that water" Peaches scolded her youngest as she pulled Crystal back over to where Abby was lying down on her front side, attempting to crawl as her sister could.

Sideways smiled as he enjoyed the scene; family togetherness was one of the things that had made him the happiest Cybertronian in recent months. The Decepticons would be back and another big battle would happen soon, possibly involving Sam Witwicky again, but for now, he would relax for he knew that his family would face it together when it happened.

Author's note: Might work on one shots soon, might not, I don't know yet. One final paper to finish and then I'm done with my schoolwork for this semester!


End file.
